Guardian of the Moon
by Meg Overhill
Summary: A tragedy hits the small town of Naedyus. Now it is up to Lunil, a mysterious stranger and their ragtag band of heroes to save the world. Please read and review!
1. The caravan returns

This is my first "published" fanfic! I am very excited to see what everyone thinks! I love the game and felt compelled to write this story. I have changed a few points in the game, for instance Clevats in my story can't use magic. Enjoy! Please review when you are done. thanks Quest

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Crystal Cronicles: Guardian of the Moon

Chapter One

The rain poured outside the window as Lunil thumbed through a large leather bound volume that lay upon the table in front of her. She sat completely still save for her rhythmic breaths and occasional page turns. She was totally immersed in the text before her when an old women opened the door to the vast library.

"Lunil dear, Its gotten quite late. Your mother will be wanting you home."

Lunil took a ribbon from her pocket and placed it between the pages she had open before her. Carefully closing the book she turned to the old women.

"Oh Ms. Anita, have you read this one?"

"which year is it?" Anita took the book off the table and with Lunil's help turned it so that she could read the gold letter on the binding. "Ah yes, year 103 after the miasma took our land. Yes my dear, I have read this one. I was but a small girl when the caravan returned with the chalice of myrrh and this log of their journey. They had to travel very far that year." Anita, holding the book, hobbled over to a shelf and finding the book's spot placed it on the shelf.

"Wouldn't it be grand Anita? to travel with the caravan, to be one of the elite selected?"

"Grand it would be Lunil, but dangerous. None ever come back un touched by the things they have seen, or the hardships faced. Some never come back at all."

"I know the risks are great, but to be a warrior, to go to sleep every night knowing that you are the reason the village exists. To be a hero." Lunil stared longingly at the books around her. "What I would give to be in a crystal caravan, to have my name written in one of the great books." she ran her fingers along the golden numbers of the books on the shelf nearest her.

Anita placed a wrinkled hand upon the girls face and smiled. "My dear, it takes all of us to keep the village in existence. Being a caravanneer is just another job. We are all heroes Lunil, every one of us."

Lunil tried to give Anita a smile of understanding, but ended up showing one of disappointment. "I know that Ms. Anita, but sometimes" she paused "I don't know..." Lunil looked to the rain outside the window.

"It will come child. It will come." Anita crossed the room and plucked a dark cloak from a rack by the door. Lunil followed her and took the cloak with a nod.

"Thank-you Ms. Anita, Good night!" Lunil opened the tall wooden door of the archival building and walked into the rain.

"good night" Anita called after her and then gave a long sigh. She shook her head as she went back into the library and closed the door behind her.

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The storm had picked up greatly since Lunil had left the archival building and she splashed though a large puddle as she made her way across the village entrance and toward her home. Suddenly she stopped. She had heard something.

"CREEEEKKY CREEEEEK"

It was the sound of wheels, It was the caravan!!! They had only been out for three months, but then both her elder brothers had been caravaneers this year. With their talent and skill, no wonder they had finished early. Lunil gave a holler and ran toward the bridge.

"Arren! Perry!" Lunil joyfully splashed through the puddles, she was almost there. Soon her brothers would be- A bolt of lightning illuminated the land surrounding her. It revealed the village's wagon pulled by the weary papaomous. The ear to ear grin on Lunil's face vanished. The wagon was being lead by a tall shadowy figure, the chalice held feebly in his right hand, a sword in his left. There had been seven that had left that new years day. Could only one have returned?!

The figure stopped before her. He wasn't a man she recognized. Where were the villages caravaneers?

"Is this the village of Naedyus?" His voice was low and raspy with fatigue. Lunil stood still. Her fear had frozen her bones. The man repeated his question. This time Lunil nodded. There was a swish as the figure sheathed his sword. With his now free hand, he reached into his long coat and pulled out a leather bound volume that was identical to all the ones Lunil had spent her childhood reading. The only thing that separated this book from the rest in the archival room was the gold number on the spine. It had been 204 years since the miasma had poisoned Lunil's world and the book's number reflected that.

The man handed her the book. "I'm sorry" She held it out in front of her. A tear mixed with the rain water on her cheek.

"thank you." Lunil said. This man had probably come very far to deliver this precious tome to their village.

The man nodded. Then he fainted. Lunil gasped and ran to him. Pulling his face from the mud she yelled. "The caravan has returned!!"

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That's my first chapter! I will update soon. Please Review!


	2. Town Meeting

I just realized that for Anita to be around in year 103 she would have to be over one hundred years old. That's okay, it is fiction! ) Please read and review!

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Crystal Chronicles: Guardian of the Moon

Chapter 2

Within moments the papaomous and wagon had been wheeled into the pavilion by a few villagers. A cot had ben set up near it and the mysterious man lain upon it. He had awakened and Anita had taken the job of getting him to eat some fresh bannock and fish. Aiden, the village elder, was trying very hard to keep the frantic villagers from getting into the wagon for fear that the man had brought the caravaneers home.

"Now now, everyone, please take a seat and we will handle this calmly and quickly." Reluctantly the People of Naedyus found seats. Though they were scared, they respected their elder.

Aiden walked over to the man who was eating some of Anita's bannock. "Are you well enough to... will you speak to them?" Nodding the man rose from his cot and stood in front of the frightened villagers.

"My name is Quinn. I'm a traveler. I was very far from any civilization when I stumbled across a caravan in a clearing deep in a wood. There had been a great battle. At least a hundred goblins lay slain about the clearing. Among them lay seven warriors."

There were gasps from the crowd, and a few loud sobs. Lunil's mother had buried her face in her husband's shoulder. Lunil looked at her feet.

Quinn continued, "When I arrived I searched the wagon. Everything had been taken save the log book. The caravan's chalice was gone. I heard a call and turned. One of the warriors was alive. I ran to him and asked what had happened. He told me as quickly as possible for he was bleeding terribly. He said he had been charged with logging the journey. He gave me his sword and asked me to return it along with the log to Naedyus. I agreed to do so and he died before me."

There was a moment pause. A Yuke women stood up out of the seated crowd. "Where are they now? Have you brought our children back to us?"

" I buried them where they fell as all caravaneers are honored." Quinn answered.

There were nods of approval from the crowd.

"I journeyed many miles and eventually found your fair village. I am sorry to have brought this upon all of you, but I felt someone had to."

"We thank you Quinn the traveler, and invite you to stay in our village as long as you like." said Aiden. Again there were the solum nods. "Now that we are all informed" The village elder paused and swallowed hard. His voice was shaky with his effort to hold back tears. "of our caravan's valiant defeat, we must decide what we are to do."

The crowd seemed shocked. Move on, just like that. Aiden seemed to read their minds. "I know it seems sudden and, we shouldn't ever forget our caravaneers that have passed, but we have a great decision to make."

There were looks between the villagers. ShayFa rose. Even though his lilty stature did not bring his head up above the crowd, his presence filled the pavilion.

"We should send out another caravan!" The blacksmith said.

"That is one of our choices" Aiden stated.

The Yuke women who had questioned Quinn before now stood and faced ShayFa. "Another caravan? so soon? we haven't gotten over our loss yet Fa! Do you really expect anyone to be ready to send out another family member? I have just lost my only child. I will not watch my husband walk over that bridge."

"And I have lost my eldest daughter! " ShayFa retorted. "That is just like you Yukes Sarine! To think of none but yourself! If we do not send out a caravan the village will be lost!"

"Now, now ShayFa, we won't get anywhere by fighting. We must work this out as a village." Aiden tried to intrude.

The lilty gave a frustrated grunt and sat down. Sarine took the opportunity to speak. "If we keep sending out our children to die then we won't have a village anymore will we?"

"What do you propose Sarine?" Aiden asked. "We can't **not** send a caravan. The crystal must be replenished."

"We can hire warriors!" said Sarine. "from more prosperous cities!"

"where will we get this money?" Another lilty asked. AbayFin stood now. "I don't think I have much of a place to speak seeing as how my family has not suffered a loss, but Naedyus has no money to hire such warriors. If the peril outside our gates is so great that it can vanquish an entire caravan of powerful trained fighters, then the warriors we would have to hire would be very expensive." Everyone knew he was right. Being the town merchant Fin and his wife traveled quite frequently with passing caravans. He knew how things outside the village were priced.

"If we don't send a caravan we will have to leave!" ShayFa stood again angrily. "I will not leave the village to monsters! We have been here for two hundred and four years now. This is our home, we can't just give up."

There was a pause the families of Naedyus looked from one another. ShayFa sat down once again. "It seems" started the old Clevat elder "that we have brought up three choices. We can leave our village for good. We can try to hire warriors to collect our myrrh, or we can try to send out another group from what remains of us. All three are risky. All roads are dangerous. It is too late to decide anything. Let us meet again at noon tomorrow and vote as a village."

The Naedyus villagers slowly and grievously made their way to their homes. Finally all that remained in the pavilion was Lunil's father, Aiden, herself and the traveler Quinn.

"Elder, I know now probably isn't the time but I must speak with you about the wheat and corn harvest."

Aiden looked up to Lunil's tall worried father. "Isaac, What is wrong?"

"Only half the wheat we planted has sprouted. I don't know what is wrong. The field is fertile."

Aiden nodded. "we will give it a few more days and then replant what isn't growing. It will be done later, but we must try."

"If I may be so bold sir" Quinn approached Isaac and Aiden from the corner he had been standing in. The other two men turned to the traveler. "The wheat in your fields hasn't been the only to suffer. I went through the fields of Fum on my way here and they were having troubles with their crops too. Not just wheat, they found worms in their apples for the first time in five hundred years. If you ask me, something is terribly wrong."

"Yes" Aiden agreed "Abay-Fin told me the price of food all over has risen. I didn't think anything of it until now. Our whole caravan defeated. They were the finest warriors we have had in years. Something is happening."

Isaac looked to his feet. "That was another thing I needed to mention. Without my elder sons we won't even be able to harvest the wheat that is growing."

"Don't worry Isaac, when the time comes we will all pitch in. The wheat will be harvested." Aiden put a hand on the farmer's shoulder.

Isaac nodded "thank you, Goodnight elder, sir Quinn." Isaac made to leave the pavilion. "come on Lunil, it's late"

"Coming" Lunil followed her father from the pavilion.

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I liked this chapter because I got to come up with villager names. Also I started working on the website for this story. I will create a link in my profile when it is ready. Hope you enjoyed this installment. Chapter three is almost done. Please Review!


	3. The Decision

Crystal Chronicles: Guardian of the Moon

Chapter 3

It was early morning by the time Lunil awoke. She had had an odd dream. She was all decked out in leather armor with a long silver sword. A great shadow had struck her sending her across the room. She had stood back up battered and faced her opponent. It was faceless, formless, just a shadow. Her dream self had screamed and she had awoken. She had dreamed this before. Always it ended right there, with her scream.

She clambered out of bed and looked over to the three beds across from hers in the loft. Two were empty the third held her younger brother. He was sound asleep. She looked back to one of the empty beds. She new her brothers would never come home. She had been told 6 hours ago, but it just struck her now. The tears came and she couldn't stop them.

Her life long dream had been to be in a caravan with her elder brothers. To live the adventures Arren had spoke of. That dream was smashed. She would never again have a sword fighting lesson from Perry. She would never again see Arren's sweet smile when he defended her from Perry's frustration. She loved them and now they were gone. Simple as that.

Drying her eyes, Lunil began to creep down the stairs into the kitchen. She needed to take a walk. Lunil stepped carefully. Without even a creak she reached the small stove and made to cross the door way into her parents room when she heard voices.

"Isaac you can't! If you leave... Lunil, and I won't be able to tend to fields alone. Brin is too young to help yet."

"I agree with ShayFa Mae. We can't leave our home. We must send out another caravan. I will go to represent our family."

Lunil's mother was crying now. "I have just lost two of my babies Isaac, I can't stand the chance of loosing you too!"

"I'm sorry Mae, but its the only way."

Lunil carefully crossed the kitchen and opened the door that opened onto the village. She breathed a heavy sigh. She knew what she had to do. Quiet as a mouse, Lunil made her way to the pavilion.

The wagon had not been moved. The hippo-thing had been put in the stables. Lunil silently crept toward the back of the wagon. She parted the cloth covering and reached her hand inside. Suddenly the a white light illuminated the pavilion. Lunil spun around to face its source. It was Quinn. The light seemed to be coming from his hand.

"Who's there?"

"Just me"

Quinn's light dimmed as he approached her. He held a small candle. Lunil was sure that light from before had definitely NOT come from a candle, but there was no other explanation. Clevats couldn't do magic.

"You're the farmer's daughter" Quinn said.

Lunil nodded.

"What is your name?"  
"Lunil"

Quinn froze. He stared at her. "Is something wrong?" she interrupted his examining gaze.

The man snapped back to reality. "N-no, sorry. I just wasn't expecting you to be here."

She looked at his quizzically. "I went on a walk. I _can_ walk in my own village's pavilion can't I?"

"That isn't what I meant."

"Then what did you mean?"

Quinn paused a moment, as if he was choosing the right words. "Never mind. I was just jabbering."

Lunil willed him to leave, but he didn't. Instead he asked, "Why were you getting into the wagon?"

"I was looking for something." Would he just mind his own business!

"What was it?"

Lunil realized he was not going to leave, so she gave in. "The sword."

Quinn raised an eye brow. "Sword?"

"Yes, you see the man who you found still alive was my eldest brother Arren. The sword was also his. Might I have it?"

Quinn looked at her. There was an eagerness in her dark eyes. The man nodded hesitantly. "I'll get it" He approached the wagon and returned to Lunil with her brother's great sword. Quinn offered it to her. She grasped the hilt and pulled it from the cloth it was wrapped in. Lunil gasped. This was not the sword her brother had left with.

From hilt to blade the weapon was made of pure silver. Two blue gems were inlaid in the hilt. The guard was a pair of dragons, claws reaching the blade. The leather wrapped around the grip was old, but still tough and thick. It was huge. The blade touched the ground while the end of the hilt passed Lunil's waist.

She lifted it into the air and held it before her. It was alarmingly light and she swung it carefully above her head and brought it down lightly on an imaginary goblin. Quinn's eyes widened. "You can lift that?"

"It very light." Lunil explained.

"Is it?" Quinn asked. Lunil was no longer paying attention. She was slaying the evil doers that filled the pavilion. Her silver sword flashing before her. Quinn watched her with interest. Finally she replaced the blade in its sheath. She carefully set it back in the caravan and turned to Quinn.

"You won't tell anyone I was here will you?"

"Of course not." He smiled.

Lunil smiled too. "Good night." She left the pavilion.

The villagers met again at noon to make their decision. Aiden stood before them. Quinn behind the elder, his arms crossed. "It is time. My fellow Naedyuins, let us now make our choice." The crowd was absolutely silent. "There are eight families and each one shall cast a vote. All in favor of hiring warriors please stand."

No one stood.

Aiden nodded. "All in favor of sending out a caravan stand now."

ShayFa practically jumped into the air. Lunil's father also stood. The Yuke Alchemist looked around and stood. Aiden frowned. He looked to the men standing up, representing that their families would fight for the village. But there were only three of them.

"All in favor of leaving the village, stand now. The three men sat. Sarine stood, her husband, the tailor, looked away. The Miller's newly widowed wife rose. Abay-Fin slowly stood and was followed by the old Selkie fisherman. He had lost all three of his children to caravans long ago. Everyone looked toward the only family that hadn't placed a vote. The Selkie rancher was an odd women. Her husband had served and been killed in a caravan a few years back. Her eldest son had been in the one Quinn found. She looked around at the people standing, and turned to her only family member left. Gareth helped his mother to her feet and sat down again.

It was five to three. They would be leaving the village.

Aiden looked with sorrow at the crowd. "You may all have a seat now." he said. He had been in this village longer than any of them. Traveling for him would be difficult, but it was what the village decided. "We shall leave in two days. Sir Quinn has offered to escort us to the nearest city with his chalice. Then all families can decide what to do from there. Meeting dismissed." The villagers began to rise.

Leave, thought Lunil. Leave. That was it then. They would all leave. "How can that be our decision!" Lunil hadn't meant for it to be out loud, but it had been. She looked around. Everyone was looking at her. She paused for a moment distraught, then rose to her feet. "We have been here for hundreds of years. We have suffered through droughts and disease and other hardships. How can you all just give up? How can you just leave behind everything you have worked so hard to achieve? If none of you are willing to fight for your way of life, let me! I will go!"

There was a moment of silence. Lunil's audience gazed at her in a shocked daze.

"Lunil" her father said harshly. He reached for her sleeve. Tugging on it, he commanded her to sit down. She looked about for help. Finding none, she sat.

Hope you liked chapter three! Please review. Also the website lives. is where you can find out more about my story and the village of Naedyus.


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